JACKSON COLUMN: England out to prove it's a young man's game

Every RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam team has had at least one....writes Peter Jackson.

The first, France in 2002, had a complete front row of them - Jean-Jacques Crenca, Raphael Ibanez and Pieter de Villiers.

The second, England in 2003, had them in all three rows of the pack - Graham Rowntree, Danny Grewcock, Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio.

The third, France in 2004, had a second row, Fabien Pelous, a centre, Yannick Jauzion, and a wing, Christophe Dominici, to name but three.

The fourth, Wales in 2005, had the evergreen hooker Mefin Davies as well as the seasoned threequarter, Mark Taylor.

The fifth, Wales again in 2008, had the likes of Ian Gough, Martyn Williams and a magician on the wing, Shane Williams,

The sixth, Ireland in 2009, had a whole host of them - Geordan Murphy, Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll, Peter Stringer, Marcus Horan, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan and David Wallace.

The seventh, France in 2010, had the likes of William Servat, Lionel Nallet, Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy and Sebastien Chabal.

The eighth, Wales in 2012, had Gethin Jenkins and Mike Phillips augmented by Matthew Rees and Ryan Jones from the bench.

And in the event of England 2013 joining the 21st century list of Grand Slammers, they will be unlike any of the above because they have none.

The aforementioned refer to those in their 30s who proved and, in some cases, kept on proving that they were never too old for the grandest of Slams.

England, of course, still have much to do. Beating Italy at Twickenham on Sunday is one thing. Stemming the tide of history and seeing Wales off in Cardiff six days later is something else.

Should they win both, then Stuart Lancaster's team will have done more than clinch the first English Slam for ten years.

They will have done it with such a youthful squad that not one of those involved in the tournament hitherto has lived long enough to turn 30.

Thomas Waldrom will do so next month, his Leicester Tigers' team-mate Geoff Parling in the autumn. Even Toby Flood, the only member of a rejuvenated squad to have won half a century of caps, will not be 28 until the summer. James Haskell, for all his inter-continental transfers, is still only 27.

The rest tend to be in their early or mid-20s - from 21-year-olds like Joe Launchbury and Manu Tuilagi to Joe Marler (22) and Ben Youngs (23) through to Dan Cole (25), Dylan Hartley (26) and Chris Robshaw who will not be 27 until the first week of June.

Some of those still going strong in their 30s have spent the tournament on the outside looking in, like Harlequins' 34-year-old No. 8 Nick Easter, Clermont's Welsh full back Lee Byrne, 33 at the end of the season, and Biarritz scrum half Dimitri Yachvili (32).

They will be loathe to subscribe to the view of Test rugby as expressed by the legendary Lions coach, Jim Telfer: 'It's a young man's game.'

A central figure during the last winning Lions' series, against the Springboks in 1997, the 72-year-old Scot does not agree with those urging head coach Warren Gatland to consider a pair of veteran Lions prowling around in the French Top 14 - an Englishman at Toulon and a Scottish-Australian at Clermont.

"I don't think you need to look at Jonny Wilkinson or Nathan Hines," Telfer says. "I think it would be a wee bit of a backward step."

He spoke a few days before Ronan O'Gara became the oldest casualty of the championship, just a few days before his 36th birthday. Ireland excluded him from a 32-man squad for Saturday's match against France in Dublin, probably bringing the curtain down on a momentous career, not that anyone in his right mind would write O'Gara off.

After 128 Tests, the world's most-capped fly-half finds himself surplus to requirements. Head coach Declan Kidney reacted to the Scotland defeat by naming three other No.10s Jonny Sexton, who missed the Murrayfield muddle because of injury, Paddy Jackson, the Ulsterman who started in Edinburgh with O'Gara on the bench, and the uncapped Ian Madigan from Leinster.

The omission of the man who won the Grand Slam for Ireland in Cardiff four years ago followed appearances off the bench against England, for Sexton, and against Scotland, for Jackson.

In the improbable event of it ending all-square, Dublin on Saturday will either be staging a third straight Irish loss or a fourth out of four for France which would leave the pre-tournament favourites for the title in embarrassed contention for the wooden spoon.

Scotland and Wales open Round Four, a Celtic eliminator for second place which marks Euan Murray's reinstatement after the 32-year-old tighthead sat out the Irish game rather than break his never-on-Sunday rule.

Should Wales make it three wins on the road, then England will be all the more apprehensive about Cardiff the following week.

Italy at Twickenham on Sunday ought to ensure Chris Robshaw stands one more win away from the first English captain of a Grand Slam campaign since Martin Johnson ten years ago.

For the record, England played Italy in the third round of the Six Nations back then, at Twickenham, March 9, 2003.

One of their props, Robbie Morris, then of Northampton, appeared in his second and last Test that day while another, Michael Worsley of London Irish, made his debut off the bench.

Of those involved ten years ago, fivde are still playing - James Simpson-Daniel and Mike Tindall at Gloucester, Simon Shaw and Jonny Wilkinson at Toulon and Charlie Hodgson at Saracens.

Wales acting head coach Rob Howley, Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell and England forwards coach Steve Borthwick will all work under Warren Gatland on next summer's British & Irish Lions tour in New Zealand.

The trial introduction of bonus points to the RBS 6 Nations, the Women's Six Nations and the Under 20s Six Nations will enhance the Championships and encourage positive rugby according to Six Nations Chief Executive Officer John Feehan.

Wales acting head coach Rob Howley, Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell and England forwards coach Steve Borthwick will all work under Warren Gatland on next summer's British & Irish Lions tour in New Zealand.

The trial introduction of bonus points to the RBS 6 Nations, the Women's Six Nations and the Under 20s Six Nations will enhance the Championships and encourage positive rugby according to Six Nations Chief Executive Officer John Feehan.

The trial introduction of bonus points to the RBS 6 Nations, the Women's Six Nations and the Under 20s Six Nations will enhance the Championships and encourage positive rugby according to Six Nations Chief Executive Officer John Feehan.

Wales acting head coach Rob Howley, Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell and England forwards coach Steve Borthwick will all work under Warren Gatland on next summer's British & Irish Lions tour in New Zealand.